The Long Goodbye
by Shipper Utopia
Summary: When one of the Division is shot by a military officer, Harm comes to investigate. Nate/CD/Harm


The Long Goodbye  
  
CD De Lorenzo heard the Officer down call on her radio and had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, the one that always made her feel as if her world had stopped. She searched for Jinny Exstead and her partner, Nate Russo. She stopped the first cop she saw, a rookie.  
  
"Where's Inspector Russo?"  
  
"He's with the other lady cop. He was shot."  
  
Nate…shot? Nate couldn't be shot. "Where?"  
  
"The front of the warehouse."  
  
CD ran until she saw her friends. "CD." Jinny waved her over. "I'm going outside to wait for the ambulance." She said, leaving the partners alone.  
  
CD took her coat off and placed it under her partner, hoping that it would help at least slow the blood flow from his wound. They shot him in the back. The son of a bitch shot my partner in the back. Damn it, Nate. Don't die. Not like he did. Don't die.  
  
She took his hand in hers, trying to transfer some of her life to him, and she heard the helicopter coming. "They're coming. You're going to be all right." Why did I say that? I hate lying to him. No. He knows the truth. All I'm doing is lying to myself.  
  
They loaded him onto the helicopter and she watched them fly towards the hospital. "CD, the Captain's on her way to the hospital. Why don't you come with me?" Jinny asked. "They can take care of things here." CD nodded and got into the car.  
  
As Jinny drove, she thought about her partner, Magda, who was still on her honeymoon. The wedding had only been days before and, although Nate had been interested in one of Magda's cousins, the nun, it was rare that she saw Nate and CD apart, on or off work. She wondered how she would react if Magda had been the one shot. She'd never seen CD so quiet before and she worried about her friend.  
  
Their captain, Kate McCafferty, was waiting when Jinny and CD arrived. "They took him into emergency surgery. What happened?" She asked, trying to decide how CD was taking it.  
  
For the first time since she'd seen Nate, CD spoke. "Did you get him?"  
  
"Don't worry about it." Jinny told her.  
  
"We have to get him. He shot my partner."  
  
"Don't worry about it. We'll get him." Kate told her. "Meanwhile, you go home and get some clothes. Someone needs to stay here, at least until he's out of surgery."  
  
"No. I'm not leaving."  
  
"Toss me your keys. I'll go get them." Jinny said. CD passed her the apartment key and the other cop took off.  
  
"Are you okay?" Kate asked, still trying to judge the younger woman.  
  
"I'm fine, Captain. Nate's the one that was shot." She said, trying to shake the feeling of dread and loneliness off.  
  
"CD, I know what happened to your first partner…"  
  
"Look, Captain. If it's all the same to you, I don't want to talk about it." She walked up to look through the glass on the double doors. "It's not him. It's Nate." Why can't I convince myself of that? Come on, CD. It's not him. It's Nate. Eleven years. He'd been with her eleven years. Come on, CD. It's not him. It's Nate.  
  
Jinny walked inside the loft apartment. It was only the second time she'd been in her friend's home. It looked like CD: airy, efficient, and organized. She smiled as she found a picture of CD and Nate on CD's desk. They were sitting next to each other, laughing, and they looked like they were family. Although the four cops were close, Magda knew her inside out, just like Nate knew CD. Partners came first. She looked at the calendar on her watch: Magda should be home sometime that day, back to work the next. There was so much she wanted to say. Maybe she could help make sense of this, have some idea how they could help CD. The only thing that Jinny could think of was to catch the guy who'd shot Nate, but what about after that? Waiting anywhere was never her strong suit and hospitals were even worse. Clothes. She needed to get CD some clothes. She went to the closet and picked a shirt and jeans, then went to get the necessary hygiene items. She also picked up two books; CD would need something to keep her mind busy.  
  
Hours passed. Kate went back to the office; Raina Washington, another cop from their office, got off work and came to check on Nate and CD. Jinny remained seated by CD, calling to cancel an appointment to look at an apartment, despite CD's protests that she'd be fine.  
  
Finally, when CD had convinced herself of the worst, the doctor came out. "Does Nathan Russo have any family here?"  
  
"I'm his partner." CD said as all three women stood.  
  
"The bullet didn't touch his spine, but he's still in critical condition. He's in ICU."  
  
"May I see him?" CD asked.  
  
"In a few hours. Hopefully, he'll be a little more stabilized."  
  
"Thank you." The doctor nodded and walked away.  
  
"Well, if you'll be all right, I'll go now." Raina said.  
  
"Thank you for staying." She said as the younger woman awkwardly walked away.  
  
"I need to go too. Are you going to be all right by yourself?" Jinny asked.  
  
"I'll be fine." CD was partly grateful to be alone; she needed to have time to get used to this, get a better grasp on reality, and she'd be fine.  
  
Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr., knocked on his partner's door, opening it to see AJ Roberts, their godson, asleep in one of the visitor's chairs in her office, while Colonel Sarah MacKenzie was calling a client. She held up one finger for him to wait and he nodded, waiting silently until the call was completed.  
  
"Hey. What's up?"  
  
"Admiral wants me to go to San Francisco. Are you going to be all right?"  
  
"Yeah. The Admiral said he'd watch AJ while I'm out and Harriet will pick him up after work." It was a Saturday, AJ was out of school, and since Harriet still had a lot of work to do with her husband, AJ came to JAG. The only thing wrong with the arrangement was that it seemed they never had time to talk.  
  
He closed the door behind him. "Mac, can we talk?"  
  
"Harm, I don't have time to discuss that with you now. Maybe when you come back." The thing was that she was afraid to talk about their friendship turning into more of a romance. The only thing that she could think to do was postpone the talk until she had time to think, then busy herself with work so she wouldn't think.  
  
"Yeah. Hey, I'm staying at the Travelodge…"  
  
"You're kidding, right?"  
  
"Nope. The Admiral's on one of his cost-cutting jags again. Anyway, if I'm not there, you should be able to leave a message OR call Mom. I already called her, she's home, and I'll be in and out of there. Anything goes wrong, I mean anything, call me, Marine. I mean it."  
  
Mac smiled at his concern. "Everything will be fine. Sturgis and I have things well under control with the case; AJ's fine. Tell your mom hi for me."  
  
"Sarah, I wasn't talking about with work or with AJ. I will." He left the office, wondering why he couldn't talk to her about anything anymore.  
  
It was too late when he got in to go to the station, so he signed into his room and called his mother.  
  
"Trish Burnett."  
  
When he heard the comforting sound of her voice, he wanted to cry. The year had been so hard and he wished that he could go back, do it all over again, fix everything. "Mom."  
  
"Harm?"  
  
"Did I wake you up?"  
  
"No. Are you already in San Francisco?"  
  
"Just got in."  
  
"Did Mac come with you?" She asked, referring to the woman she'd always wanted to be her daughter-in-law.  
  
"Mom, Mac and I are still having a little bit of a problem."  
  
"Is it still Brumby and Renee?" The blonde had left her son almost a year before and Brumby had walked out on Mac's wedding, causing a rift between Harm and Mac that she'd never been able to figure out.  
  
"I don't know what it is."  
  
"Come have breakfast with me tomorrow. Frank's out of town; it'll be like the old days."  
  
The next morning he sat on the patio outside his mother's beach home as they both drank coffee. "Now tell me. What's wrong with you and Mac?"  
  
"I don't know. If you asked me a year ago, I could have told you that we loved each other, but now…Mom, I don't know what happened, but I do know that it's not all us and it's not all Brumby and Renee."  
  
"Is Mac doing better?" For awhile her son had been terrified about his partner; she'd almost been killed in an embassy riot, something which he never stopped blaming himself for.  
  
"I think so. I don't know much of anything anymore. Maybe being out here again will help get things settled."  
  
"I hope so."  
  
"Mom, I have to go. I need to be back in San Francisco."  
  
She nodded and put her hand over his. "Harm, no matter what you decided, sooner or later, you have to go back to Washington. Promise me you won't do anything that you'll regret."  
  
Harm smiled his flyboy grin. "I love you, Mom."  
  
Harm called into the San Francisco Naval Base and they told him to talk to Captain McCafferty at the police department. The office was still empty, except for the Captain's office, and for some reason he didn't know, he was surprised to see that she was a woman.  
  
"Captain?" He had thought about calling her ma'am, but she didn't seem like the type of woman you did that to.  
  
"Commander Harmon Rabb, Junior, I presume. Glad to meet you." She said, standing and shaking his hand.  
  
"I was called in to help investigate an opium ring and the shooting of one of your inspectors."  
  
"We like to help the military in what ever way we can, but we will not be left out of the loop."  
  
"I understand. I have a partner too. I know how I would feel. I would like any and all assistance that you or your department could offer."  
  
"The two inspectors in charge of the case haven't come in yet. Inspector Russo and his partner are at St. Francis if you would like to talk to her, but she wasn't there when the shooting occurred."  
  
"I'd still like to see if she knows anything." Kate wrote down the directions and Harm got back into his rental car. The radio was on, had been when he'd first gotten the car and he hadn't bothered to turn it off.  
  
She left without leavin' a number. Said she needed to clear her mind. He figured she'd gone back to Austin cause she talked about it all the time. It was almost a year before she called him up. Three rings and an answering machine is what she got. If you're callin' 'bout the car I sold it. If this is Tuesday night, I'm bowlin'. If you've got somethin' to sell, you're wastin' your time. I'm not buyin'. If it's anybody else, wait for the tone. You know what to do. PS If this is Austin, I still love you. The telephone fell to the counter. She heard, but she couldn't believe. What kind of man would hold on this long? What kind of love must that be. She waited three days, and then she called again. She didn't know what she'd say, but she heard three rings and then...If it's Friday night, I'm at the ball game. And first thing Saturday, if it don't rain. I'm goin' out to the lake and I'll be gone all weekend long. But, I'll call you back when I get home on Sunday afternoon. PS If this is Austin, I still love you. This time she left her number and not another word. She waited by the phone on Sunday evenin'. And this is what he heard...If you're callin' bout my heart, it's still yours. I should've listened to it a little more. Then, it wouldn't have taken me so long to know where I belong. And by the way, boy, this is no machine your talkin' to. Can't you tell, this is Austin, and I still love you. I still love you.  
  
Harm closed his eyes. He missed his second partner, Meg Austin. She'd never met Mac, transferred to Italy first. The first time he'd ever met Bud, he was with Meg. She'd had blonde hair, blue eyes, tall, and she always reminded him of a princess. She always knew everything, but not in a know-it-all way, and he could talk to her about anything from his dad to girls he was dating. Anything but submarines, he thought with a smile. She was claustrophobic and their first case had been on a submerged submarine. He wished he could talk to her now about Mac. He made his way to Inspector Nathan Russo's room and was startled at what he saw. Asleep in a chair by the male officer's bed was a woman that could be Meg's twin.  
  
Before he realized what he was doing, he asked softly, "Meg?"  
  
She opened her eyes and looked even more like Meg. "Are you a doctor?" She asked.  
  
"No. My name's Commander Harmon Rabb, Jr., and I'm investigating Nathan Russo's shooting." He said, offering his hand.  
  
"Harmon, my name is Inspector CD De Lorenzo. Nate's my partner." She said, accepting his handshake.  
  
"Harm."  
  
"You're staring." She said after a while of silence.  
  
"I'm sorry. It's just…I have another double in my life." She looked at him confused. "My ex-girlfriend looks like a double for my partner and my ex-partner looks like a double for you."  
  
She smiled. "That does sound confusing. You have a partner? Are you military police?"  
  
"I'm a JAG lawyer."  
  
She turned colder. "So you're going to defend the man who shot Nate?"  
  
"No. I'm only here for investigative purposes. My commanding officer is of the belief that the prosecution will occur in your courts." She nodded, trying to hide her relief. Something made her like him, trust him, and if he could defend someone that shot Nate, that would be a huge strike against him.  
  
Jinny Exstead knocked on Magda Ramirez-Herrara's front door and smiled when her partner answered it.  
  
"Come in." Magda said, hugging her partner. "Gabe's fixing Ben breakfast. What's wrong? You look you haven't slept in days."  
  
"Not in days. A day. I spent last night going over cases."  
  
"Did you switch bodies with CD or something? What's going on?"  
  
"We got another case, an opium ring. We were making the bust when Nate got shot."  
  
Magda's eyes opened wider. "Nate? Is he all right? Is CD all right?"  
  
"He moved up from critical to fair early this morning. CD slept at the hospital."  
  
"Let me say goodbye to Gabe and Ben; then we'll go to the hospital." Jinny nodded and waited silently and patiently.  
  
"Bye, sweet boy." Magda told Ben.  
  
"Bye." Gabe and Ben said at the time, causing Magda to smile.  
  
"I'll call you later." Magda kissed her husband on the cheek, grabbed a piece of toast, and hurried out to the car. 


End file.
